1980–81 Ipswich Town F.C. season

Ipswich had ended the previous campaign in third place following a splendid unbeaten run stretching from the beginning of December to the final Saturday of the League season - a run of 23 matches in total. They took this excellent form into the new season, remaining unbeaten in their opening 15 matches, and by the middle of March they were strong title contenders with only two defeats in 32. However, a 2-1 reverse at Manchester United triggered a slump which handed the initiative to Aston Villa, although Ipswich did win at Villa Park during the run-in. This loss of form was due in no small part to a fixture pile-up as Ipswich also reached the semi-final of the FA Cup, losing in extra time to Manchester City, and the final of the UEFA Cup. A 5-4 aggregate victory over Dutch side AZ Alkmaar clinched the club's first (and, to date, only) European trophy success and was some compensation for the domestic disappointment.

Top scorer for the season was 23-year-old John Wark, who scored a remarkable total of 36 goals in all competitions. 14 of these came in the UEFA Cup, including one in each leg of the final, to equal the legendary José Altafini's record of 14 goals for Milan in the 1962–63 European Cup (this total was later exceeded by Jürgen Klinsmann in the 1995–96 UEFA Cup). Wark's goalscoring form saw him win the European Young Player of the Year and PFA Player of the Year awards. Frans Thijssen was named Footballer of the Year.

Kit

Ipswich Town retained the kit worn during the previous two seasons, manufactured by Adidas.^[1]

First-team squad

Squad at end of season^[2]^[3]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.		Position	Player
		GK	Paul Cooper
		GK	Laurie Sivell
		DF	Kevin Beattie
		DF	George Burley
		DF	Terry Butcher
		DF	Allan Hunter
		MF	Steve McCall
		DF	Mick Mills
		DF	Russell Osman
		DF	Tommy Parkin
		DF	Kevin Steggles

No.		Position	Player
		MF	Arnold Mühren
		MF	Kevin O'Callaghan
		MF	Roger Osborne
		MF	Frans Thijssen
		MF	John Wark
		FW	Alan Brazil
		FW	Mich d'Avray
		FW	Eric Gates
		FW	Paul Mariner
		FW	Robin Turner

Results

First Division

Date	Opponents	H / A	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance
16 August 1980	Leicester City	A	1 – 0	Wark	21,640
19 August 1980	Brighton & Hove Albion	H	2 – 0	Wark, Gates	21,568
23 August 1980	Stoke City	A	2 – 2	Brazil, Gates	10,722
30 August 1980	Everton	H	4 – 0	Brazil, Wark, Butcher, Mariner	20,879
6 September 1980	Aston Villa	H	1 – 0	Thijssen	23,192
13 September 1980	Crystal Palace	A	2 – 1	Wark, Gates	24,282
20 September 1980	Coventry City	H	2 – 0	Wark 2	20,507
27 September 1980	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	2 – 0	Brazil, Mariner	18,503
4 October 1980	Leeds United	H	1 – 1	Wark	24,087
11 October 1980	Liverpool	A	1 – 1	Thijssen	48,084
18 October 1980	Manchester United	H	1 – 1	Mariner	28,451
25 October 1980	Sunderland	A	2 – 0	Mühren, Brazil	32,368
1 November 1980	West Bromwich Albion	H	0 – 0		23,043
8 November 1980	Southampton	A	3 – 3	Gates, Wark, Mariner	21,261
11 November 1980	Brighton & Hove Albion	A	0 – 1		17,055
15 November 1980	Leicester City	H	3 – 1	Gates, Williams (og), d'Avray	19,852
22 November 1980	Nottingham Forest	A	2 – 1	Brazil, Wark (pen)	24,423
6 December 1980	Manchester City	A	1 – 1	Mühren	35,215
13 December 1980	Liverpool	H	1 – 1	Brazil	32,274
17 December 1980	Tottenham Hotspur	A	3 – 5	Mariner 2, Gates	22,741
20 December 1980	Birmingham City	A	3 – 1	Mariner, Wark, Brazil	16,161
26 December 1980	Norwich City	H	2 – 0	Brazil, Wark	27,890
27 December 1980	Arsenal	A	1 – 1	Wark (pen)	42,818
10 January 1981	Nottingham Forest	H	2 – 0	Mariner, Mühren	25,701
13 January 1981	Birmingham City	H	5 – 1	Wark, Butcher, Mariner, Mühren, Brazil	21,158
17 January 1981	Everton	A	0 – 0		25,516
7 February 1981	Crystal Palace	H	3 – 2	Mariner, Wark (pen), Gilbert (og)	25,036
17 February 1981	Middlesbrough	H	1 – 0	Brazil	24,781
21 February 1981	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	3 – 1	Wark, Gates, Beattie	24,218
28 February 1981	Coventry City	A	4 – 0	Brazil, Gates, McCall, Osman	17,557
14 March 1981	Tottenham Hotspur	H	3 – 0	Gates, Wark (pen), Brazil	32,052
21 March 1981	Manchester United	A	1 – 2	Butcher	46,685
28 March 1981	Sunderland	H	4 – 1	Mühren, Mariner 2, Thijssen	25,450
31 March 1981	Leeds United	A	0 – 3		26,462
4 April 1981	West Bromwich Albion	A	1 – 3	Brazil	22,216
14 April 1981	Aston Villa	A	2 – 1	Brazil, Gates	47,495
18 April 1981	Arsenal	H	0 – 2		30,935
20 April 1981	Norwich City	A	0 – 1		26,083
25 April 1981	Manchester City	H	1 – 0	Butcher	22,684
2 May 1981	Middlesbrough	A	1 – 2	Mariner	15,503
13 May 1981	Southampton	H	2 – 3	Brazil, Wark	19,504

League Cup

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance
26 August 1980	Round 2 First leg	Middlesbrough	A	1 – 3	Wark	14,459
2 September 1980	Round 2 Second leg	Middlesbrough	H	3 – 0	Osman, Mariner 2	14,780
23 September 1980	Round 3	Norwich City	H	1 – 1	Osman	26,462
8 October 1980	Round 3 Replay	Norwich City	A	3 – 1	Mariner 2, Mühren	24,523
28 October 1981	Round 4	Birmingham City	A	1 – 2	Wark (pen)	18,968

FA Cup

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance
3 January 1981	Round 3	Aston Villa	H	1 – 0	Mariner	27,721
24 January 1981	Round 4	Shrewsbury Town	A	0 – 0		18,000
27 January 1981	Round 4 Replay	Shrewsbury Town	H	3 – 0	Gates 2, Wark	27,543
14 February 1981	Round 5	Charlton Athletic	H	2 – 0	Wark, Mariner	30,221
7 March 1981	Round 6	Nottingham Forest	A	3 – 3	Mariner, Anderson (og), Thijssen	34,796
10 March 1981	Round 6 Replay	Nottingham Forest	H	1 – 0	Mühren	31,060
11 April 1981	Semi-final	Manchester City	N	0 – 1		46,537

UEFA Cup

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance
17 September 1980	Round 1 First leg	Aris Salonika	H	5 – 1	Wark 4 (3 pens), Mariner	20,842
1 October 1980	Round 1 Second leg	Aris Salonika	A	1 – 3	Gates	25,000
22 October 1980	Round 2 First leg	Bohemians Prague	H	3 – 0	Wark 2, Beattie	17,163
5 November 1980	Round 2 Second leg	Bohemians Prague	A	0 – 2		15,000
26 November 1980	Round 3 First leg	Widzew Łódź	H	5 – 0	Wark 3, Brazil, Mariner	20,445
10 December 1980	Round 3 Second leg	Widzew Łódź	A	0 – 1		9000
4 March 1981	Quarter-final First leg	Saint-Étienne	A	4 – 1	Mariner 2, Mühren, Wark	40,000
18 March 1981	Quarter-final Second leg	Saint-Étienne	H	3 – 1	Butcher, Wark (pen), Mariner	30,151
8 April 1981	Semi-final First leg	FC Cologne	H	1 – 0	Wark	24,780
22 April 1981	Semi-final Second leg	FC Cologne	A	1 – 0	Butcher	49,476
6 May 1981	Final First leg	AZ Alkmaar	H	3 – 0	Wark (pen), Thijssen, Mariner	27,532
20 May 1981	Final Second leg	AZ Alkmaar	A	2 – 4	Thijssen, Wark	28,500

References

Ipswich Town F.C. seasons

1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1980–81 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16

1980–81 in English football

« 1979–80

1981–82 »

FA competitions

Football League

Lower leagues

European competitions

Related to national team

Club seasons

First Division	Arsenal Aston Villa Birmingham City Brighton & Hove Albion Coventry City Crystal Palace Everton Ipswich Town Leeds United Leicester City Liverpool Manchester City Manchester United Middlesbrough Norwich City Nottingham Forest Southampton Stoke City Sunderland Tottenham Hotspur West Bromwich Albion Wolverhampton Wanderers

Second Division	Blackburn Rovers Bolton Wanderers Bristol City Bristol Rovers Cambridge United Cardiff City Chelsea Derby County Grimsby Town Leyton Orient Luton Town Newcastle United Notts County Oldham Athletic Preston North End Queens Park Rangers Sheffield Wednesday Shrewsbury Town Swansea City Watford West Ham United Wrexham

Third Division	Barnsley Blackpool Brentford Burnley Carlisle United Charlton Athletic Chester Chesterfield Colchester United Exeter City Fulham Gillingham Huddersfield Town Hull City Millwall Newport County Oxford United Plymouth Argyle Portsmouth Reading Rotherham United Sheffield United Swindon Town Walsall

Fourth Division	Aldershot Bournemouth Bradford City Bury Crewe Alexandra Darlington Doncaster Rovers Halifax Town Hartlepool United Hereford United Lincoln City Mansfield Town Northampton Town Peterborough United Port Vale Rochdale Scunthorpe United Southend United Southport Stockport County Torquay United Tranmere Rovers Wimbledon York City

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